Trust in consultant

[Heartho]

Had Hattack in Nov 23 stent in August 24. Pills inbetween. When first angioplasty done consultant remarked in letter another artery was blocked and that he chose to leave it as it would complicate procedure. Two weeks ago another heart attack, major , emergency stent in this artery. Have rather lost faith in consultant, has anyone changed, and are you black listed if you do!

[Heartandflowers]

Are you NHS or private?

[Heartho in reply to Heartandflowers]

Hello, NHS. I see that you have the option, via the Secretary of the consultant or Pals , but wonder if I will end up at the bottom of a list for being awkward.

[Hoocher62 in reply to Heartho]

If you go through PALS you don't lose your place in the queue

[PadThaiNoodles]

I changed once with no issues. I'm in Ireland; on the private system.

[happyrosie1]

if you feel the surgeon mislead you or whatever, you can raise the subject with PALS and they could reassure you as to whether changes would be a good idea.

[Heartho in reply to happyrosie1]

Thank you, I am worried once my concerns go into the system it will become an official complaint which I don't want, but I expect they will require a reason.

[fantasyfanuk]

Hi Heartho, I changed consultant when he told me I was a mystery and he showed no interest in finding out what was going on and why I had continuing problems after having a pacemaker implanted! It was if I was a personal affront to his expertise. After 2 years of deteriorating and being fobbed off, I got myself referred to a cardiologist who specialised in my sort of problems at the big city hospital only 10 miles away. I don’t think our relatively small local hospital could handle anything out of the ordinary. Anyway, the new consultant is great, he diagnosed the problem and I got a different type of pacemaker. It was very simple to change, I just told the gp who I wanted to see, he agreed with my choice and referred me straight away. I didn’t have to speak to anyone at the hospital about it at all. I think the NHS is very used to people changing doctors/hospitals and it shouldn’t be a problem. Also, PALS have been very helpful with a couple of issues, none of which were formal complaints and they wouldn’t push you into making it a complaint, it’s not in their interest to do so. They just try to help you sort things out to give you some resolution and peace of mind. Hope you get on ok.

[Heartho in reply to fantasyfanuk]

Thank you

[Wonky_heart]

When I saw my first cardiologist and asked him to explain what was wrong (I had angina and AFib) he just smiled and said 'Now don't you worry your pretty little head' and refused to tell me. I put in a complaint and refused to see him again. Unfortunately I ended up being admitted from A&E several times and sods law was that he was the cardiologist on call twice. Reluctantly I agreed to be seen by him the second time and it didn't go well so I ended up going privately (had a stent and ablation which sorted everything for a time), When the A Fib returned I ended up back at A&E but this time saw a different cardiologist who was lovely and I'm now under him. It's so frustrating when you can't trust who you see.

I wonder if it's worth getting copies of your records to see what he wrote and then either complain via the hospital or the General Medical Board. Good luck

[scentedgardener]

I eould suggest you contact PALS and talk to them about it. You are abke to state that you do not want to make a complaint but you have lost confidence in this consultant and would rather see someone else, but don't want to go to the bottom of the list. That is perfectly reasonable. They are the experts in negotiating a tricky situation, after all they are called "The Patient Advice and Liaison Service."Good luck.

[EdtheDead]

Longish story. I was admitted to A n E by ambulance and diagnosed with NSTEMI Sept 23. A week in Hospital including a transfer to a specialist unit for angiogram. No blockage, didn't need stent. Despite having a medical procedure and being diagnosed with a heart attack I had to make my own way home (40 miles) as transport was refused. I will add here that my traponin marker was only 100. Month later rushed back and told I had Pericarditis. Not once did I see a Cardiologist. In February 24 we moved house and into a new Health Authority area where I actually got to speak to a cardiologist. He raised his eyebrows at my diagnosis and ordered a Cardiac MRI. Results came through and the Heart Attack was totally refuted and doubts cast on the pericarditis diagnosis as well.So here I am, stuck in limbo, still getting chest pain and no one seems to give a fig.

I did complain via PAL about my treatment by the old health authority and never received a reply.

So in answer to your pose, no, I have no faith in cardiologists what do ever.

[Qualipop]

It's not just cardiologists. My dad had a urology consultant treating him for dreadful pain. When the consultant said they were fitting a stent to open his ureter I asked whether the supposed blockage was inside or outside the ureter and whether it had anything to do with the bladder cancer he'd had for 10 years. The consultant grabbed dad's notes and shot out of the room. After 3 weeks in hospital he'd never even read dad's notes. I followed rapidly and informed the ward sister that that man was never to see dad again and he was to be moved immediately to the care of his previous consultant. NO problems; no come back. He was seen the same day by his lovely first consultant who also asked to see me the next day. It turned out sadly that dad had stage 4 prostate cancer and was given a year to live. That consultant even turned up at our house when dad failed to go to an appointment. If you have lost faith in a doctor then change.

[Mister1]

Hi Heartho,

I've had issues with Cardiologist too.

I have an enlarged Aorta, SVT,ACS and Angina..

So, one consultant was lovely and said that he would speak to the cardiology to speed up my wait for an ablation of which he did but the EP consultant thinks he has a god complex problem and was abrupt and rude to my partner.

When we highlighted that if my blood pressure isn't under control and that this will effect my Aorta and will enlarge it more to the point that I will need major surgery the consultant snapped " I'm not here to worry about the blood pressure issues I'm here to sort out the miss firing heart!!" .

He then told me that I had to loss 20kg before I could have the Ablation which I desperately need because my SVT is so erratic even when I said that I'm a vegetarian weight lifter that goes to the gym 3-4 times a week so my BMI would be naturally higher then it should be and that the BMI system is massively flawed.

He just rolled his eyes and stated that you still have to 20kg and that I could do it with just a calorie deficit alone of 2,000 calories a day.

If his knowledge was up to date then he would have understood that putting someone into a metabolic/catabolic state is massively dangerous for people with heart conditions.

I am now reporting my treatment to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman as Pals refused to help me with anything of my issues I've had from my local hospital.

If you read a Statin free life by Dr Aseem Malhotra a British Cardiologist at the Harley street it will give you a great insight into the issues of British Cardiology and with myself having 14 years within the pharmaceutical industry I can smell the BS spoken by most Cardiologist a mile away.

[Kelling]

I had an almost identical situation but with the deformity in my spine (off subject BUT relevant) called scoliosis where I went to see a specialist who told me to keep taking the paracetamol and that there was nothing more he could do for me. He actually had done nothing - no xray, and not one finger towards a hands on examination and finally, had been on morphine for the pain for the part two years. What with my recent pacemaker (2 years after bypass) I was feeling very low. I took myself to the doctors and voiced exactly the same concerns as you are and he suggested re refer my to another expert but in another of the Trusts hospitals in the area but not in the same county.

This was duly done and I traveled the extra miles, saw the new man who was so different, xrays, examination and the most thorough of explaining the situation to me, I felt reassured and thankful I had actually had been seen by a very caring expert in the field of scoliosis. I have a series of injections into the lower spine on 25 Jan to help ease the pain.

Just goes to show that there are always alternatives and never just accept what you are told as gospel and if unhappy, speak to PALS or your doctor. So chin up and have another go with the good suggestions already mentioned.

[Catlover1981]

Patient choice you can request another consultant and another hospital. I think your GP will write and request a different consultant

I had problems with my Orthopedic surgeon and I went to my GP and he wrote asking me to be transferred to another consultant. The first consultant talked down to me as though I had mental health issues and I hated it. The second one was brilliant and talked to me and not at me. I have to travel from Rotherham to Leeds but I get transport.

[rehana01]

Following on from my first HA, I was undergoing various tests. I het was only after the angiography that proper treatment could begin. So quite by chance I got to see the diagram of my heart blockages in percentages. I kept a good rapport with the surgeon and even spoke to him about the stents. Step by step, I had 6 stents, unblocking the major blood vessels. I had complete confidence in my surgeon.